A secret look at the Peace Hotel

When my mom, two sons, and I stayed at the Peace Hotel earlier this week, I was determined to see one of their special themed suites. My friend Tina told me about private tours of the hotel, which are free and booked with the concierge. I’d stayed at the Peace before, but this was the first I’d heard of a tour. Tina knows everything there is to know about Shanghai and I’m so grateful for this insider’s tip!

My oldest son was off dealing with visa issues, so my mom, youngest son, and I set off on the tour. We saw the museum on the first floor and that’s when I asked about seeing a themed suite. The tour guide, Miko, was so great and asked her colleague to get a key!

The different themed suites include Japanese, Chinese, Indian, American, German, Italian, English, French, and Spanish. We lucked out and got to see the Indian suite!

Here are a few scenes from when we first walked into the suite! To the right is a guest bathroom.

Since the Peace Hotel was built in 1929, these themed suites are from back then. The hotel’s owner, Victor Sassoon, had come to Shanghai from Bombay, so India was near and dear to him. This was way before partition.

Next is a sitting room. I love the ceiling and took lots of photos it.

I didn’t want to miss any of the details.

This is the dining room.

Through this gorgeous doorframe of the dining room is the sitting room we saw when we entered the suite.

The view of the river is to die for! This was certainly not the view when the hotel was built, way before the Pudong development across the Whampoa, or Huangpu River.

And the ceiling!

On to the bedroom.

The master bath!

The only bidet I’ve seen in Shanghai.

And the bathroom door. No detail is spared in this suite.

The largest suite in the hotel is on the 10th floor–the Presidential Suite–which was Sir Victor’s private apartment back when he lived in Shanghai. That, to my son’s regret, was off bounds to anyone who wasn’t staying in the Presidential Suite.

The tour was really nice and something I recommend. Advance reservations are required and they run once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

And if you want to learn more about the hotel, I strongly recommend these books: